According to this article some British sausages are made up of as much as a third fat and only 32 per cent meat. The rest of the sausage is usually made up of ground wheat rusk which is used as a bulking agent to cut costs and improve the texture of the sausage. A study has been carried out on 36 brands of sausages including the country’s biggest sellers to find out exactly what goes into them. Researchers for the journal Meat Science looked at the packaging for information on meat fat and salt content. On average the sausages contained 62 per cent meat but four of the sausages that were looked at had less than 50 per cent and the worst one had less than a third pork. The study did not identify the different brands but did reveal that the two sausages with the lowest meat content were Asda Smart Price with 34% pork and Sainsbury’s Chipolatas with 32% pork.

Artist Eugenie Scrase has won BBC Two’s School of Saatchi show with this tree trunk artwork. The piece beat five finalists to win a place in Charles Saatchi’s current show. The artist found the fallen tree whilst out walking in East London and asked the owner if she could remove the section of fence it was impaled on. The work entitles Trunkated Trunk has been on show at the Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia since October. It’s certainly interesting but its not really my idea of art.

This is an interesting new product from Tesco. Its a bra that can be assembled in various different combinations. Called the limitless bra it comes in several parts including two cups and a selection of straps to create different effects. Each of the cups has 24 different hook positions and a back strap with a further 28 hooks so whether you want a strapless look a backless bra or a halter neck bra you should be able to easily achieve it. The bra retails for £16.00 and is available in sizes 32-38 A-D.

It started snowing here in Sevenoaks last night and we now have a good covering of snow. Whilst the foxes have been jumping around in it and playing the cats are not impressed. Our white cat Ollie (pictured) ventured out for a look but the other are all curled up inside. Below is a view of the trees in our garden.

According to this article rhino poaching is on the rise. The global surge is being driven by the the demand from Asian medicinal markets and a decline in law enforcement. Around 95% of rhino poaching since 2006 has taken place in Zimbabwe and South Africa according to data compiled by Traffic the global wildlife trade monitoring network. The most serious situation appears to be in Zimbabwe where rhino numbers are declining rapidly, however, the conviction rate for rhino crime is only 3% in this country. Poaching and illegal trading have also seen a huge increase in South Africa with 210 rhinos being illegally killed between 2006 and 2009. The African black rhino is now placed in the critically endangered category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and with the market for rhino horns in Asia still growing rapidly, its obvious that greater measures need to be put into place to in order to prevent poaching.

According to this article online retailer Amazon is considering a move into the high street. The move comes as Amazon has started to stock larger products which can be problematic and expensive to deliver. If it goes ahead Amazon would have outlets where customers could pick up purchases that they have ordered online. The article suggests that Amazon is currently looking for high profile sites across the UK to pilot the scheme. The move would not only allow Amazon to supply those larger items but also allow customers to pick up their purchases at a time to suit them rather than relying on being in to sign for a delivery.

According to this article only two in every three children now have married parents. It appears that the number of children being brought up in the traditional family unit is at a historic low, that’s according to official figures. The findings come after the Government’s family pressure group has claimed the state should no longer try to preserve the traditional family. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that there are 8.3 million dependent children living with married parents, that’s a fall of 1.3 million since 1997. The number of dependent children in cohabiting households has risen from one million to 1.7 million during the same period. Studies show that children from cohabiting parents are also more likely to end up in single parent households because of the higher break up of these relationships. Research also shows that children from married homes do better at school, get better paid jobs and are more likely to steer clear of drugs and crime.

According to this article tomato and potato plants kill insects in order to help fertilise themselves. The plants have sticky hairs on them that they use to trap small insects. When the insects die they fall to the ground and the plants absorb the nutrients through their roots. Although the technique is more commonly seen in wild plants, it is thought that garden varieties still retain the ability to this but that they have no need to do so because gardeners tend to provide the plants with food. Botanists have recently been conducting a study into carnivorous plant species and were surprised to find carnivorous behaviour in many plant species that have previously been overlooked. Among them are species of petunia, ornamental tobacco plants, some varieties of potatoes and tomatoes and shepherd’s purse.

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